South Korea reported its fifth death from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) as the government yesterday vowed “all-out” measures to curb the outbreak that is threatening to spread nationwide, including tracking the mobile phones of those in quarantine.
The number of infections rose to 64 after 14 new cases of the disease, including one death, were confirmed late on Saturday night, the South Korean Ministry of Health said.
It is the largest outbreak outside Saudi Arabia where it has infected more than 950 since 2012.
Photo: AP
As of yesterday, more than 2,300 people had been placed under quarantine of varying degrees. About 2,100 were told to stay home and strictly limit their interactions with others, while about 200 were isolated in state hospitals.
All the 14 new infections were among people already in quarantine after being exposed to those diagnosed earlier, the ministry said.
However, Busan City authorities reported an additional case in the country’s southern port and second-largest city, sparking alarm that the outbreak might spread nationwide.
Photo: AP
The case was not included among the 14 new infections confirmed by the health ministry.
Acting South Korean Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan vowed yesterday that “all-out efforts” would be made to curb the spread of the disease in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
He urged the public not to panic, saying all 64 patients had already been in hospital quarantine.
“We can keep the situation under control because... the outbreak is not spreading to the outside community,” Choi said at a press conference “People should not overreact and should cooperate closely [with the government] to minimise negative impact on the economy.”
South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s administration and health officials have come under a storm of criticism over a perceived slow and insufficient response to the outbreak.
A policy not to name the hospitals where patients were diagnosed or treated was a major focus of public criticism.
Choi on Sunday disclosed the list of 24 such hospitals — mostly in Seoul or Gyeongi Province surrounding the capital — saying it was aimed at “easing public anxiety.”
Authorities had earlier confirmed one case in Sunchang, about 240km south of Seoul, with the entire village of about 100 people having been sealed since Saturday.
Bigger budget support was also promised for those placed under quarantine and for local governments and school authorities struggling to contain the outbreak.
Samsung Medical Center in Seoul — where 17 cases were confirmed — yesterday said that more than 890 patients and medical staff had been exposed to those infected.
“We notified the 893 people immediately and carried out necessary quarantine measures,” hospital president Song Jae-hoon told reporters.
However, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon warned of potential danger of the outbreak at the hospital — one of the country’s largest, visited by more than 8,000 patients a day.
“We are afraid that there is a significant possibility that the outbreak at the Samsung hospital could spread to the local community,” Park said.
Park last week declared “war” on the outbreak and called for more transparency from the central government to curb the spread of the disease in the capital — home to 10 million people.
The Seoul education council yesterday ordered the closure of all 126 kindergartens and primary schools in Gangnam and Seocho districts in southern Seoul, where the Samsung hospital is located.
Health authorities warned that they were expecting more new cases of those who had been infected at the hospital in recent weeks.
More than 1,300 schools have been closed temporarily. Public events and sports games were cancelled across the country.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique